MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's tennis team will officially kick off the 2017-18 campaign this weekend at the Ragin' Cajun Invitational, hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette.

This weekend's tournament was recently added to the schedule. The Jaguars' previous season opener, the Thomasville Invitational, was cancelled.

"I'm looking forward to it," USA head coach Jaco Keyser said. "In hindsight, it might be a good thing that we've had some time to work on some things, but I think the girls are ready. They've been playing a lot of sets amongst one another, so it'll be nice to see some outside competition."

Keyser will be taking freshmen Maxine Palmen, Nikola Kohoutova, Yu Fukioka and sophomore Leslie Soto. The three freshmen will be making their season debuts.

"This is a great starting point for them," Keyser said. "We'll get to see how they respond to stressful situations. They've been looking great at practice, but it will be good to see them competing in a tournament."

Soto, who joined the team prior to the 2017 spring campaign, went 5-2 last year, and ended the season with a four-match win streak. She posted a perfect 4-0 mark at No. 6.

"She's done a good job over the summer and it will good to see if she can take some of the stuff she's been doing in practice and insert it into these match situations," Keyser stated.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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